Psycho suspected of Gilligan shooting 'getting more powerful.
KEN FOY – 18 MAY 2015 03:00 AM
The chief suspect in the shooting of veteran crimelord John Gilligan last year is continuing to expand his gang activities in north Dublin.
The psychopathic Finglas criminal, who is facing serious charges before the courts, is suspected of firing four shots at Gilligan in a botched hit in the 63-year-old's brother's home in Clondalkin on March 1, 2014.
That incident happened less than three months after the same Finglas criminal is suspected of having entered the Halfway House pub on the Navan Road armed with a 9mm handgun looking for the gangster in December, 2013.
While Gilligan fled the country a fortnight after the attempted murder in Clondalkin, his arch-enemy has stayed in the capital and sources say his gang are "growing in power all the time".
"He is closely associated with around 20 fellas and they are into all kinds of crime including drug dealing, armed robberies and aggravated burglaries," a source said.
SEIZURES
"In the last few weeks this crew have been linked to up to four armed robberies and two significant drug seizures. They are a violent crew but none of them are as violent as the Gilligan suspect.
"Their power-base is in the Ratoath area of Finglas and there seems to be no stopping them at the moment."
Sources say gardai have been investigating whether the same mob were responsible for a horrific aggravated burglary on Filipino nationals at Cappagh Road, Finglas, at around 10.30pm last January 15.
A 13-year-old girl was tied up with cable-ties and two couples were threatened at gunpoint in a terrifying ordeal in what gardai believe was a case of mistaken identity.
"This crew are well capable of using the extreme violence that was used in that crime," a source said.
The "Get Gilligan" criminal was previously handed a lengthy jail sentence for a terrifying armed robbery.
It was while serving this sentence that he first met and clashed with Gilligan, and sources say he has held a major grudge against him since then.
SHOT
He was previously closely associated with Kevin Ledwidge, a 27-year-old Finglas criminal who was shot dead in July 2007.
It is understood that gardai informed the feared criminal of an active threat against his life in February of last year, and the thug decided the threat was coming from Gilligan and his associates.
Sources say he decided to strike first, but Gilligan had an extremely lucky escape and survived despite being shot four times at point-blank range in the Clondalkin attack.
Gilligan fled Ireland a fortnight later, 24 hours after his close associate and driver Stephen 'Dougie' Moran was shot dead at his home in Lucan.
Moran, originally from Limerick and related to the notorious McCarthy-Dundon gang, had acted as Gilligan's driver and bodyguard following his release from prison.
The Finglas gangster was also investigated for this murder but there have been no arrests so far in that case.
